Jochen_S

I only have a focusing tab on my 35mm Hexanon and am fine with it (although I haven't mastered advanced skills like single handed shooting or blind zone focusing). Are you sure to remain uncomfortable forever or could more dryswimming build the muscle memory needed to enjoy that lens? 40 & 75mm is pairing a not wide with a not long. We have different frame lines; Leica's 75mm suck, so I surely won't buy a lens for them. Dunno if Voigtländer is worth getting. AFAIK Ringfoto have rights on the brand, here in Germany, so prices of Cosina's stuff get marked up to "no longer competitive". Things are probably better elsewhere. I'd buy any 90mm Rokkor or Elmar C that comes my way for cheap, while also looking for an old colapsible Elmar, if I had nothing else to burn film. - My PJ beater 'cron stays at home, due to stiff and wide open successless focusing (if a 85mm Nikkor comes my way, I'll replace it) and the Macro Elmar is nice to carry. YMMV, but I am encouraging to dare a bit of a gap between 2 lenses.

Am I wrong or is your R3 offering 75, 40/90, 50 frame lines and Voigtländer neither make goggled 35mms nor would Leica's fit? In another thread you mentioned being fond of not overly many controls on cameras. Following @m42dave above I'd suggest selling your 50mm, picking up a nice (priced?) 90/4 and never touching that frame line selector again. My personal happily single lens is a "longer than normal". I only have a 120/2.8 for P6 and the 50/2 feels welded on the 1.33 crop body. Its beennages ago that I shot a Ricoh(?) with fixed 40mm. Given a choice I'd rather bag my Retina II with fixed 50/2. During my wild 6x6 days I shot mostly 135, followed by 55mm and rarely the fixed 75mm on my 2nd camera. Yes, 90mm on RFs is challenging; I don't recommend pairing it with slower films. Back to 35, 40, 50mm: 35mm with auxiliary finder is clumsy enough to suck! If thats all you have, you 'll only use it when absolutely needed. And zone focusing isn't really an option. 50mm was the longest that HCB managed to focus quick enough and is a popular focal length for that practical reason. And yes, sometimes it is just the right lens (but I still don't like it very much). 40, counterweighted by 90, should be fine. My main bag holds 90, 35, 21 (+15 for selfies). Maybe the 25mm Snapshot Skopar is for you, at the really wide end? Keeping stuff you don't like rather compact is usually a good idea. Once you got a somewhat reasonable kit out, everything boils down to "shoot what you have, as good as you can". i.e. you 'll move and compose for the lens at hand. Changing lenses wastes opportunities, thats why I recommend bringing just 3 and accepting gaps between them.

Would that be a bad idea? Especially when imagined with service tech(s), in a back room.

Maybe a good thing, to call things whatever they are? While I probably hadn't been much of a real Pentax customer, things felt odd for a long time, like their German homepage listing lenses with lots of them "currently not available", even the 35mm stuff, not only MF. Rather few shops (while there still were some) bothered to carry Pentax and their inventory was never great either. Ricoh being transparent about their plans / our options might feel better? An automated website could tell how many orders it takes to trigger a production run and for how long the assembly line is still occupied with something else. If they are somewhat smart, they 'll give customers a chance to buy multiple options on a "whatever you 'll produce next" base and ask what they could sell next, when shipping something. Example: You have money for a 70-200/2.8. You 'd also like 85/1.4 & 35/2. If Ricoh make and ship the 35mm first, they should ask when you 'll recover to be ready for the expensive zoom. (Some amateurs' wallets are that imature) Heavily customizable cameras would be super nice. A BW K1 II or K3 might trigger me once again. (But I am feeling mostly done with Pentax, just trying to consume what I already have.)

Ah! Bl = black, should be higher pigmented than 4c's process black / k. WmG9 = Pantone Warm Grey base with a wee bit of transparent white CG10 = Pantone Cool Grey base, barely diluted I have no Pantone Color Guide with mixing instructions here at home, they are horribly expensive some $150-300 and should get bined every couple of years. But an online search on your hopefully calibrated screen should give you kind of an idea. And yeah, with conventional screen dots we can print just close to 255 shades, so using more than just black gives a greater tonal range to the image. Offset printshops tend to have Pantone inks at hand or at least in reach. AFAIK the one I am dayjobbing at hasn't done duotone+x printing but needs Pantone inks to create stationary or business cards etc. Printing your corporate colors 4c separated is cheap or untraditional.

Dunno if I am getting your question. The displayed menu lists a bunch of somewhat common Pantone colors, that could be used to mass print your image on offset presses. I have no clue how Duotones got separated in the pre-digital days or who might have been a pioneer in doing so.

Dunno what to say. 1K€/$ should buy a month of existence, as a student or expat. But "saving up for Leicas" is surely a right thing to attempt; it will grant the cash needed to be thrown at more serious financial emergencies. Did your search for M11 reviews reveal a list of less suited lenses? The 60MP are a huge jump in resolution from M9's 18, on which almost everything seemed working well enough. My uninformed guess would be that everything not "apo" could disappoint, when resolution is the goal.

I don't know your camera hands on. Specs wise it looks quite sufficient to me; i.e. if not annoyed by it's ergonomics, I'd treat it as a workhorse beater and line out my upgrade path on the way. Picking up a 2nd APS C body, to hold your other lens, should be cheap and could provide bigger buffer, better ergonomics, slightly better low light performance, more AF spots. OTOH image quality at base ISO is probably already limited by your lenses. If(!) that bothers you, go full frame. 6D / 5D II-IV and new lenses would be the mid range option. FF Mirrorless seems more desirable (eye AF, IBIS, better lenses) and also more expensive. Now the big caveat: I am not sure if EOS FF stuff makes happy. I have a 5D IV, surely by far the most capable camera I own and was pondering to add an R5, during the current cash back campaign. What held me back? - Weight! - YMMV, maybe you won't be backpacking your gear + other stuff all day long. But when I read "self development & relaxation" I guess less could be more for you. You didn't tell what you 'll be shooting subjects wise. In doubt: Get restarted with what you have. After a while runnsomemstatistics gnerator over your images to figure out what focal lengths you are using most frequently. And in a final step ask around whomoffers a perfect package formyour needs. Other open question: Domyou relax during editing your images and processing RAW files or is that closer to grunt work for you? If the latter is the case camera upgrades are more recommended. For a compact system I 'd look at Fuji (since EOS M seems dead) maybe even MFT. Grabbing a single FF body and just a more touristy zoom is also an option.

Mechanics? The image looks pre-"lets clearcoat everything!"-days in the printing industry. So some never really drying pigments are on top of paper. Handling and compressing the book can smear them on the opposite page.

After reading up on the Noblex 135 and tom_chow's comment above, it might be the better choice for panoramic landscape pictures, with the rubber friction wheel inside replaced. But it would also be a one trick pony, what might mean ultra slow turn around time for pictures, since it might take ages to finish a roll. I should shut up about panorama cameras; I didn't get one during film days. When a landscape knocks my socks off these days, I 'll sweep a digital, most likely a primitive one, that makes me stitch results with computer software. My last attempt was with a 50mm in landscape orientation on an APS H (1.33x). Would you climb a mountain and shoot a 30mm lens with an ordinary 35mm? Surrounding mountains will look small in your picture and super wide pictures usually demand something in the foreground. While there are subjects for any lens and I know you want to capture the width of your view... - As stated before: If you have anything system camera or at least a revolver finder, take it out or mask pictures you took and judge yourself what might work for you. I have no clue which labs handle 35mm panorama negs and recommend asking around before you 'll buy a camera, unless the paper for your home printing arrives as a roll. As a rangefinder fan in general, I guess the Xpan must be fun to shoot and f4 is a reasonable compromise for portraits with a 90mm (my wide open Summicron gets me nowhere).

I don't own an Xpan and assume there will be situations that might urge you to shoot in regular 35mm mode. These will make a 30mm really nice to have, but most likely still not the most used lens. YMMV, if you earn your living advertising restaurants or factories. Shooting 35mm I am content with occasionally using 21mm; 15/14mm were frequently way too wide for me. Journalists settling for 24mm (which would equal 45mm on the long side of a panoramic negative) as their widest have my understanding too. If you currently have any camera system at hand, try to emulate Xpan use with it and figure out what might float your boat.

Sorry, I haven't really understood the rain covering thing yet. - I mean practically, with a way to integrate it into my life. If a camera isn't declared to be made for swimming and low effort snorkeling, it is not(!) "weather protected" period. Of course there is a gray zone for going happy go lucky at your own risk. The problematic thing are the transitions. In good wether, I hang myself with cameras, stroll around, shoot. In bad weather I could park a car, remove camera straps, stuff SLR / MILC into lenshood attached plastic bags, get out, take 3 shots, come back. But how could I carry the camera or two of them all day long? Getting camera strap out of the bags is problematic. Same about suddenly needing a tripod, if you weren't wise enough to bolt your plastic bags down with your QR plate. I own some cheapo raincover thing for camera on tripod. Surely handy formrecording moist stage performances or such but nothing to walk around with. Also: how to set up and break down gear, while it is still raining cats and dogs and you are commuting on a bike? In light rain I am wearing cameras under my rain coat and should probably pocket a small towel or such. Why is there no Nikonos D? :(

Fast lenses would be slowed down severely, when limited to leaf shutter sizes. Why should you approach "making a camera system" differently, just because your film format changed? Smaller systems had FP shutters too. And fast shutter speeds were surely a marketable feature?

Everything has it's place. (Big!) If the logistics are less of an issue, my Manfrotto monster, with central operation of the 2nd leg segment, is awesome to work with. If I want something to weigh close to nothing and maybe even fit into my backpack, I 'll have to pay a price, not just money. I might buy the darn twist lock Gitzo / whatever someday. I don't think it will be overly hard to get the drill about it down. I would of course start taking pictures of my home town at night, when I am unlikely to get rushed or distracted. And I wouldn't hesitate to paint arrows on all legs, to remember the twisting direction, if Imfelt the need. Since I don't own one yet I can't tell how many twist locks are too many for my scatterbrain. If 9 segment legs existed, they 'd surely be too much. Still: Leaning my overweight on the tripod, cursing, retightening seems an option. In the past I used cheap lever locked metal tripods. Never been into wildlife, noise wasn't my issue. Control? Why? Legs seemed too short anyhow. And otherwise there is always a floor to drop them on, before you lock the last segment and spread them out. I might end making a saddle bag to leave my old junk tripod on the moped and skip the carbon stuff. For daily use in the field I 'd end shopping around.

Why replace software? Did you already switch to cameras that aren't supported? If not I 'd expect things to run smoother and swiftly on more capable newer hardware.

Any guide number & ISO setting only makes sense when the lens has a chance to mechanically couple its distance and aperture rings. But maybe the manufacturer believed it is easier to know "I'll shoot at 1.8m" and twist that ring accordingly than to calculate a numeric aperture value?

I'm not overly experienced. Usually you can guess a lens' ballpark? A used focal length seems easier to spot in pictures where it got abused, for example when people try portraiture with their 35mm as an only lens. In other cases you might know the limited choice of focal lengths somebody is carrying and use those for guessing guidance. (21), 35, 85/90mm look pretty distinguishable, but spotting if somebody, doing a lot with their 90mm, dug a 135mm out seems harder. Does it matter? I mean somebody takes an inspiring shot with their kit, I like to reproduce it with mine, assuming both are kind of complete, I shall find something sufficiently suitable. Not having 24, 28 & 105, 135mms at hand inside one's lens line shouldn't break anybody's neck, but yes, sure, I've done studio shots with old kit zooms, when I needed a certain focal length, due to space constrictions.

Big question: What additional knowledge might be needed? 3 video topics come to my mind Using reflectors Fill flash Place your subject into shadow and have it lit by reflected light during high noon Might inspiration be already more important? Are you close enough to know what she is struggling with, if at all?

Light Science and Magic. - Seems a must own book to bibliophobic me. Strobist blog? There seem tons of photo-edutainment channels on Youtube. The big problem: Will your relative like the clown in charge there and does the presented stuff fit her needs and budget? Irene Rudnyk should be good for inspiring BTS footage, not sure if she is really educating. Mango Street? Joe Edelman? While I don't advocate binge watching each and every of his "togchat" episodes, hendid put good tutorials out and is also running a Facebook group, which I can't judge, since I didn't warm up with that medium. Adorama TV's gems. Gavin Howey (spelling?) Slanted Lens? Tony & Chelsea Northrup? They even wrote a (really best selling?) affordable book with embeded video links and updates "stunning digital photography". I don't own it. While they might not be ground breaking photographers on their own, they seem to take teaching, reviewing and preparing good(!) shopping advice quite seriously. Karl Taylor? He is surely capable, just maybe two sizes too big for a teenage beginner? Michael Sasser? While maybe not great, he might be able to point out some mistakes to avoid and nudge towards post processing efficiency. I'd also recommend watching tutorials about camera & especially software of choice. IDK what your goals are. I recommend keeping things most of all fun and also balanced. If 3rd Yongnuo & 2nd light stand are on the '22 Xmas wishlist, shooting what is at hand and keeping education free might make sense. Borrowing books from the film age can't harm. But most learning seems trial and error and knowing just enough to understand the mistakes one made. One has to take the time to practise whatever watched about lights, modifiers and reflectors. IDK about online communities, beyond this one here.

I' m currently ultra reluctant to shoot people, since I don't want to depict cutting corners around mask mandates or recommendations.(By accident, if such anthing should happen...)

I know s*** about collodion, besides an URGENT(!) reminder that it can go "boom"... Double check your liability / building owner insurances, put window replacing company on short dial, check weather forecast. - Seriously: Germany banned New Years Eve fireworks once again, to let hospitals focus on COVID, so it is maybe not the best time to blow up one's darkroom? (Lensrentals' Roger blogged about blowing out school windows as a teen.) Given a choice, I 'd rather prep plates in a tent and shoot them outdoors, assuming my sewing machine is enough to clear up a worst case's mess there. Your strobe: Arrange a test subject in a dim studio, load a plate and pull your dark slide out bit by bit, to expose 64 to 1 pop of your flash. Evaluate and shop flash power accordingly. I dare to assume that your plates might be UV sensitive too and anything suitable to light a portrait, like the UV lamps used in offset plate contact copying frames, would be causing eye damage to the subject. As Rodeo Joe mentioned: Sheet film should be easier to expose. If you want it only blue sensitive, buy x-ray film.

No, the remains of my photography and that virus don't get along at all. For a while I had been wondering if I maybe should replace my 70-200 with a 100-400 for social distancing's sake. This summer I felt somewhat ready to maybe get into wildlife photography with a 150-600 but to my great dismaymI didn't encounter the colony of almost tame bunnies or rabbits Imexpected tomstill populate the fields on my bike path to work like over a decade ago, when I useed it last time. Lockdown & curfew dragged heavily on me. I recall dry-swimming some shots of the empty city during my commutes home, halfassedly planning to shop for a luxury tripod oncenstores might reopen. So in a nutshell: I haven't shot anything. I didn't eat out or socialize either.

Wow! Your old picture is great. Sorry, I can't help with your plan(ing). Povety / misery seemed bolder, back when the FSA paid photographers. These days it might take more than a single frame to point at it, especially when we are talking about somewhat established folks, like lower working class instead of homeless people. Either change your medium, by switching to montage or maybe even video or find some cartoonist or actors to collaborate with, would be my suggestion. But honestly: While I am usally aware of picture opportunities I missed, "ordinary people hanging on by their fingernails" haven't condensed into my imagined viewfinder frame, yet.

I suppose you 'll benefit from an ultra slow film's finer grain? IDK what is still around (poly)pan F? Forte? Foma? But if TriX meets your story telling needs, use it.

30.8mm and lens not entirely cranked out should work?